The Delta House

There are times in each of our lives where we have to make some tough decisions, and yesterday I made one. Now this isn't something earth-shattering like changing jobs or going back to school, but it will have a trickle-down effect on a handful of people, and is therefore somewhat substantial.

I have been playing softball in a church league for the past five years. In fact, we had so many people that wanted to play that my friend and I started a second team at our church three years ago.

Each year, this team has gotten progressively better, and we are poised to have our first winning season this year. In fact, I even lobbied the church to include the teams in their annual budget so that it wouldn't be such a financial burden on guys to play. They gave us $2500 for new uniforms, league fees and equipment for both teams. What a blessing!

This year, our team even has an "outreach" player, a guy who does not currently attend any church or have any defined spiritual beliefs. It is an opportunity to evangelize in a casual setting, and it can be life transforming. The goal is to have him start attending regularly by the end of the year.

Unfortunately, I will not be part of the team this year. I resigned my spot as Head Coach yesterday, citing several reasons.

There is the obvious, time management. I'd simply rather spend more time with my family and working on my house than I would playing softball with the fellas.

Then there is the not-so-obvious, finances. You see, I live in Connecticut and attend church in Rhode Island, about 30 miles from my home. We used to live closer, but we decided to attend the same church after we bought our place in CT. The people there are more like family than our real families, so it was an obvious choice.

Softball requires me to commute two more times a week to the church than just attending services, and the additional expense is significant. I estimate that it would cost me around $500 in fuel alone this season to make it to practices and games. Considering that we have only one income at this time, and additional expenses with the baby, the decision was clear, though not easy.

In a nutshell, high gas prices are keeping me from doing what I love and spending time with the people that I care about. How are gas prices affecting you?